Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Shooting with the California Sun-Swatter part II

Am really liking the flexibility that the Sun-Swatter gives us. This shot of Luciane was made in the middle of the day, just by suspending it above her.

Because it is suspended from a boom arm, the Sun-Swatter allows you to get it into places that would otherwise be difficult.

This was shot in a small corner of a yard, behind a wall and some recycling bins. Our assistant used the boom arm of the Sun-Swatter to fly it up over the wall and above our model Luciane to diffuse the overhead light. A silver Sunbounce Pro reflector is off to the side mounted on a C-stand to throw some light into this corner. We also had our makeup artist Kahulani hold a silver Sunbounce mini below to add some fill.

We also used the Sun-Swatter in a bit of an unorthodox way. This was shot in the living room against the windows. There was late afternoon sun streaming in from the oceanside windows, creating hotspots in the area we were shooting in. A technique I remembered from photographer Joe McNally was to use a white bedsheet over a window to diffuse harsh light. Since we didn't have a bedsheet handy, I took the Sun-Swatter and propped it up against the window - turned out to be the perfect size to cover it.

This softened the light coming into the living room, but also made it rather dark. To compensate, I set up a WL1600 at full power outside and aimed it towards the window.

This had the effect of creating a 4x6 softbox pressed up against the window. We also used a silver Sunbounce reflector in the living room on the opposite side of our model Whitney to fill in the shadows a bit.

Probably not one of the ways the creators of this product intended, but it worked out pretty well.